How to Make Vegan & Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I’ve been craving green bean casserole, something my Grandma and/or Dad always made during the holidays (as well as throughout the year) growing up.

One of the beauties of green bean casserole is how easy it is to make–the kind I always use to have was basically canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, salt and pepper, and the best part–fried onions to give it that crispy and delicious top layer.

I was willing to put in some effort to make my own cream of mushroom sauce since I couldn’t find any that’s vegan, and I was excited when I found Minimalist Baker’s recipe for Vegan Green Bean Casserole because I always love her recipes.

I was doubtful that I would be able to find vegan AND gluten free fried onions for my topping though, and it was bumming me out because while I could fry my own onions, having to do that extra step was going to make this recipe more complicated that I’d hoped. I also don’t usually cook with oil/fry things and wasn’t sure if they would come out as good as the store bought kind. And I’ve seen recipes that use nuts or other toppings for the casserole, but to me that just isn’t the same.

I decided to check and see if Whole Foods had any since I’ve found a lot of vegan friendly things that you can’t always find at other grocery stores, like vegan chocolate syrup and vegan/gluten free cookie dough and whipped cream in a can.

I was so excited when I found some that I bought three cans! Honestly I’m kind of regretting not getting more, but this should be enough for thanksgiving at least. A few days later my Aunt told me she found some vegan/gluten free fried onions at HEB as well (Top Taste brand), which is awesome. The world may be ending, but at least there are vegan/gf crispy fried onions, am I right?

This isn’t exactly a recipe post because it isn’t my recipe, but I wanted to do a post anyways for anyone out there searching for vegan and gluten free green bean casserole. It is possible! Just follow Minimalist Baker’s recipe and get yourself some vegan and gluten free fried onions from Whole Foods, HEB, or wherever you can find them.

This version takes slightly longer than the traditional kind, but it tastes just like I remember it, only even better because it uses fresh green beans and homemade cream of mushroom and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I’m all for making things easier though, so if you know of any vegan cream of mushroom, please let me know where you found it!

Is green bean casserole part of your holiday tradition? Do you veganize traditional recipes or just make new ones? Let me know in the comments!